25th January saw the penultimate race in the 25-26 road championships.
Nine MACs headed over to Ashbourne to take on the fairly straightforward out and back course on the Tissington Trail. An advantage for our hapless chair, as the likelihood of getting lost was significantly reduced (but never entirely eliminated).
Andrew Donoher had a great run to take the maximum MAC points with a 44:27 and a top 10 finish overall. Hot on his heels was Rebecca Curtis-Hall in 44:38, also boasting 10th place overall, second female overall and first V40.
Next up was Andy Mellor in 45:11, taking 11th overall and first V50, followed by Rob Curtis in 46:24 and first V55. Just one second behind was Lisa Jones, making it a MAC 1st and 2nd in the V40 category.
Roy Austin was 30th overall with Jill Neville 39th. David Howarth was second V65 and Sally Owen bagged yet another Vet gold, with her first V55 finish.
A gloomy morning, but a friendly and well organised event. Just one more event in this season’s road championships, and a number of places will be decided at the Whitworth Thread – an exciting end to the series.
The race was won by Tom Jackson from Belper Harriers in 35:54, with Sophie Friffin-Edwards taking the women’s win in 43:55.
Full results online at https://results.sporthive.com/events/7368662677196899584/races/4
